Retired fat guy with a camera Loc: Colorado

In my never ending quest for the perfect photograph, I stumbled across the expodisk. From what I have read, this gizmo is the , you really need this , we ain't joking, go buy this now, kinda thing. I have a Canon 1D Mark lll. I know it's old, it only has 10 mega pixels, it's heavy, it had focus problems. Well, it also is a pro model,that shoots 10 frames a second, in Raw. Mine focus's great. I am not planning on making a billboard size enlargement, and I suggest eating your Wheaties if it is too heavy. I also bought it for 500 dollars, with a less than 9,000 certified shutter count. With a shutter life of 300,000, to my way of thinking it was a great deal. I take pictures, and I have no desire for a camera that does video, so, why pay for a feature I hate. Sorry, I will step off of my soapbox, about the virtues of the 1d, and get back on point. I usually set my white balance to auto and go from there. Most of the time it is good enough. But, in my never ending quest, sometimes good enough, just isn't. Has anyone used a expo disk? what do you think of it? And lastly has anyone used it with the, 1D?

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Not worth it. I have one, used it one time and now it is just there, along with the garbage I have never used again after getting it.

Since you mention shooting raw, the WB issue is moot anyway (one of the reason I found the expo disk useless AFTER making the mistake of purchasing one).

A card or even a gizmo I use from time to time (forgot the name) is much better... (What I call 'gizmo' is a cube that has a hole in it and really catches the light to create a deep non reflected black.)

Edit: Found a link on it. You can make your own.

BebuLamar

$49 that's a lot of buck. I wouldn't buy one. It's no better than a gray card. Besides, correct white balance may not be the best white balance settings.

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

Get as close as you can, shoot in "RAW", and make changes in post processing

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

I use one indoors for available light shooting and set a custom white balance from it.
It's always better than AWB.
I shoot raw +jpeg for quick web posts.
The jpegs are very close... Third base at least.
All I usually have to do is size them.

I find it easier to adjust white balance in raw when I've used the device as it's very close to what I need, rather than taking a guess.
I saw a test of various similar white balance tools and there wasn't much difference between the expensive to the cheap and included the Melitta Coffee filter, which worked well.
I looked for it and it's no longer a good link.

Having a grey or white card in a scene works well too.
Have it in the first frame of any scene, then you can later correct the rest of the images shot in that same lighting in a batch.
All you have to do is click the eyedropper balance tool on that area and sync to the other images.
For really accurate color, I use an XRite color checker.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Got one a few years back. Not happy with the results. Picked up an Xrite ColorChecker Passport - never looked back, use it all the time and it is 100% consistent, even across camera bodies, and 100% accurate.

As for the comment that sometimes neutral is not good. It is good, because if you decide you want to adjust to something other than neutral, it is much easier if you start out at neutral. Especially if you have 100s of images to balance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDtebpvATzc

I gave my disk thing to a student who experienced the same lack of consistency I did, and ended up throwing it in the garbage, along with her Gary Fong Tupperware, and the Tiny Softbox for her camera mounted flash. OMG! people can be so gullible. . .

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

I got one 8 or 9 years ago when I was working part-time in a camera store and we got a good deal on them.

It does work, but for the price...not worth it as other things are cheaper ( a gray card) or better (Color Checker Passport).

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

As usual, we have a range of experiences and opinions. The purpose of all these tools is give you a picture that matches the color balance of the scene accurately. If this is not important to you, use the AWB in your camera. Color balance is the hardest thing to get right. First of all, we do not remember exactly how the scene looked. Secondly, we may want to tweak the color balance for esthetic reasons.

For those of use who want to match the scene's color balance, we have many tools available. These include gray cards, the ExpoDisc, the X-Rite ColorChecker and meters. For me, the ExpoDisc works best so long as you accept its biggest limitation: changing color balance because you calibrated you camera under one light but then you go elsewhere and shoot under a different light. For example, calibrated in sunlight and then shooting in the shadows. Or calibrating an interior shoot lit by strobe. And then taking pictures in a room with sunlight coming through the windows while still using the flash. (This happened to me Saturday but I fixed it using the linear gradient filter in LR.) By the way, you have the same problem with the ColorChecker.

I have not used the ColorChecker but have researched it. The biggest difference is that it will help reproduce colors even more accurately. This is very important if you absolutely must match a gamut of colors such as for product or fashion photography where you have anal customers who go bonkers if the colors do not match the Pantone book and will not accept that technology has its limits. Otherwise, viewers will not know that your colors might be a wee tad off.

I hope people will challenge me on this.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

I have to shoot a piece of artwork for a catalogue cover this morning.
This is where the X-Rite Color Checker Passport earns its money.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

They work GREAT, if used correctly, but NO BETTER than a $9.00 Delta-1 Gray Card. In some situations, using them is far more inconvenient than using a gray card or other standard reference target.

Don't waste your money. Get a Delta-1 Gray Card, a One Shot Digital Calibration Target, or a ColorChecker Passport instead.

Gray Cards and One Shot Targets are best for a JPEG workflow. The ColorChecker Passport is best for a raw workflow.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Glad to hear someone else pan the flash attachments. None perform any better than a scoop fashioned out of a letter-size sheet of white 110-lb. index card stock and a strip of adhesive backed Velcro. (I tested a dozen "flash softening attachments" for on-camera flash while at Herff Jones Photography in 2010. IMHO, they are all excess weight, bulk, and expense, compared with the right piece of paper.)

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

That seconds what I said.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

I have one and it works fine, but I almost never use it. It's just not necessary, IMHO

PeterDragon Loc: Harlan, KY - Kona, HI - Phoenix, AZ

Back in the day, I used a white styrofoam coffee cup.
Jim

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

What do you drink from now? And how do you set your white balance? 😜